FLOYD MAYWEATHER boxing UFC star Conor McGregor may be a long way off but it is assuming an air of grim inevitability. Mayweather is open to it and the UFC has said they won’t block McGregor’s foray into boxing. It probably would generate vast revenues, even though McGregor is a mixed martial artist with only a limited background in boxing.

Mayweather’s former opponent, Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez is unimpressed at the concept. “I think it’s hurting the sport of boxing. I see it as a joke. It’s a big circus and a joke because when a fighter from boxing gets into MMA or a fighter from MMA gets into boxing it’s just a big joke. People don’t take it serious,” he told Highsnobiety.

Canelo might just be the heir to Mayweather’s throne as one of boxing’s leading lights. He is a major star in Mexico and the US and is about to engage with Gennady Golovkin on September 16.

But there’s no denying Conor McGregor’s increasing influence in world sport. The Irishman was on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list (no boxers were).

Arnold Schwarzenegger himself said, “From the first time I met Conor, I knew he wasn’t the type of star you could box into one category. Since I’ve gotten to know him, I can tell you that what you see on the screen — the now familiar face of mixed martial arts — just scratches the surface. The Dublin native is razor-sharp, disciplined and charismatic. His energy is absolutely contagious, to the point where you almost start shouting in an Irish accent after 30 seconds of hearing that world-famous mouth.”

It’s interesting therefore to see that McGregor wants to move beyond MMA and to do that he is approaching the biggest names in boxing. He even suggests if the Mayweather fight doesn’t come off, he wants Manny Pacquiao…